A Story To Be Told

My first-born is in  Athens with Mary. mother of three  grand-childre  and grand-parents of four , soon to be five ,of my great-grandchildren.

A photo on Facebook yesterday showed the Aegean Sea ,likely fronm a balcony or roof. Therre's a soft mist over the mirror- like surface of the water.  Mary is the photographer. The caption she  has underneath ; "Morning has broken"

I wish I was there. I know I can get there . My scooter will carry me to the door of the plane. It will  await me at the door  when I arrive .  But whether or not the scooter will handle the slopes and inclines of the  geography of the place is another consideration. Whatever the port, tge land alwys rises. Steeply.

I am   not majorly incapacitated .  Every minute  of my life is not a gargantuan challege of  mobility.

But may have a better  sense of how it is to be less than  physically capable than someone without  the experience.

Last night's meeting took a tedious, repetitious turn with a memorandum  to Council that , in terms of accessibility, the  status quo of the Council Chamber  remain the same.

Th Town hall is relatively new. Two  ramps  provide access to the floor of the chamber. A couple  of impediments  intrude into the  proper  width of the ramps. One has already been removed by the town's carpenter. A second remains to be dealt with when the order is given. A third is possible if the second is not enough.

The  first  improvement was identified by  Rick ,the custodian.   He watched  me negotiate a turn in the ramp.  "That railing could be reduced by four inches that wouldn't be missed " he said.

By next meeting, the deed was done. With such expertise, there was no sign the  four inches had ever existed.

The second  impediment is  five inches  depth of millwork  framing the overhead monitors. It  protrudes at shoulder height .  The ramp is about three feet wide. Five inches  lost with sharp corners
At shoulder  height matters.

Everyone who knows the carpenter tells me  he could handle  the modification with ease.

When the  request was made for improvements, nobody asked me.  In fact  when I attempted  input I was ignored.

The March Of Dimes were asked for  advice.

Cost was $450.

The specialty  architect who designed the  museum in the Church Street School was retained to  design improvements.

Cost was $4,700.

Estimated cost of  proposed improvement : $110.000.

The floor of the  chamber was to be raised by a foot. The infrastructure  servicing  the desks would  have to be taken out and replaced.

The floor would be at the level of the first row of spectator seating, rendering that row useless for spectating.